Lakewood Missions Update

Our trip here is coming to an end, and the time has come to say goodbye.  We´ve been living with local families in Pavas throughout the trip.  They were strangers to us just over a week ago, but have now become our friends, and moreso, our families.  Their hearts and homes were opened to us, and despite some language barriers, we truly have found a forever place in our hearts for these people.

We´ve spent time completing projects in the Christ for the City community center just steps away from their front doors…doors that were all behind locked gates. We hosted activities in the center for their children and the children of the local community.  We shared from our hearts with their women, and hosted activites for them to show the creativity God blessed them with.  We watched many of their husbands work hard to support their families and  lead them in prayer, fighting the cultural message to do otherwise.  We cried when they cried, and when they prayed, we may not have understood a word, yet we understood their hearts.

Last night we watched hundreds of ants crawling up a tree, grabbing a very small piece of a leaf to carry many yards across a stone wall to their home.  It seemed like an insurmountable project, but for hours they continued, not seeing immediate success but being patient that over time they would.

We leave Costa Rica with that on our hearts.  We had projects we hadn´t quite finished, and saw many physical and emotional needs we ran out of time to address.

Proverbs 30:25 says¨Ants are a people not strong, yet they store up their food in the summer.”

We leave here knowing we may not have done everything, but what we did was exactly enough for what they needed right now.

Adiós amigos.  We leave the seeds we´ve planted for God to fertilize.  

- Kathy Schroeder

Thank you, thank you for your prayer for our team. God has truly blessed us in ways that we do not deserve as we went out to minister this week in Pavas and LaCarpio. God was so faithful to us as we served by remodeling an non-utilized portion of the CFCI ministry center in Pavas to prepare for use in making specialty paper for stationary that the women can sell to help support their ministry and families. We were told again and again how much hope and encouragement a fresh coat of paint, rewiring, new lights and clean up of this facility meant to leadership and the families who serve and are served here. I praised God that He allowed Jim and myself to show love to the new family that lives in the attached apartment to the facility by wiring a room with new lighting and a bathroom with a new electric shower water heater. Kathy S. and Jan said it was joyous to hear the 12 year old daughter spontaneously break out in song from the shower the following morning.

God was with our team as we were allowed to share our testimonies during numerous women and teen group settings in Pavas and LaCarpio, as well as in personal settings in our homes with our families during our time with them. We thank God for His words that touched hearts and the transparency of those who shared back their own struggles and stories and their testimonies to how they have seen God working in their lives.

Our women loved on the teens, women and children so beautifully through various crafts, stories, games, spa care, English lessons and fellowship. I know they have dozens of stories to tell that you will need to hear when we return.

Jim and I were both blessed to be able to serve and have such a great time of fellowship with our new friend and brother-in-Christ Reynaldo, Seth Sears and a number of the teens from New Horizons at LaCarpio. We gave life to a number of tables and chairs that were on their last legs (literally) and played some great games of baseball over the last few days with the new gloves and balls that we were so graciously blessed with by many of you. They were so thankful for this equipment, as one new baseball costs around $10.00! Thus, a ball hit over the fence, (normally a home-run) results in an automatic out by the offending batter!

Tonight, we served our Pavas families an all-American meal of chili-dogs and accompanying condiments, along with my favorite rotini pasta salad as a thank you for their hospitality for the week. We had a sweet, heartfelt and tear-filled time of our team and families sharing with each other, how God has blessed us all this week! We departed to our homes for our final evening together.

God is good! Words cannot do justice, but God is good.

Bendiciones from Costa Rica,

Don

I’m posting this from the Refugio (Refuge) in La Carpio, a school for girls who have not finished their education for various reasons, many related to abuse and/or pregnancy.  A ministry to boys has also started at the facility, with a focus on soccer and baseball outreach to build connections.  We brought baseballs and old baseball gloves with for the ministry, which was so greatly appreciated.  La Carpio literally is located at the city dump along a river, and when baseballs are hit over the fence they are truly gone for good.  They’ve been out of baseballs completely, so they had balled up a sock and wrapped it in duct tape to keep playing.

If you’re curious about where this is exactly at, take a look at http://maps.google.com/maps?q=La+Carpio,+Pavas,+San+Jos%C3%A9,+Costa+Rica&hl=es&ie=UTF8&geocode=FY7-lwAdo_j7-g&hnear=La+Carpio,+Pavas,+San+Jos%C3%A9,+Costa+Rica&t=m&z=14

We started working at Refugio yesterday, beginning our day with an invitation to join the morning devotions.  Our team joined a room of young girls who did not speak English, but through both interpreters and the Holy Spirit we were able to greet each other, share, and begin building new friendships.  Katrina took time to share her testimony with the girls, sharing from her heart the work God has done in her life.  We had been told that due to life circumstances, the girls generally did not share or open up very much.  When Katrina finished speaking, the girls were invited to ask any questions.  You could have heard a pin drop when one young women started to speak, saying she had never shared her testimony before, but hearing Kat’s story she was moved to share.  She opened up to us–complete strangers–and shared how abuse had left her life in such deep pain, and how God began working in them to send people to share His Word with them.  Tears flowed, as we knew both the personal bravery in sharing with strangers, but also, the bravery in being so open in front of peers…an emotional risk we all understood.

There are no words to describe the power of that moment, but if you ask any team member about it when we return you’ll see in our faces the deep emotion that was experienced.

Testimonies are powerful.  When you keep problems a secret, the devil uses them.  But when you step out in faith and share your story, God uses it.  And we had front row seats to see that in action today.

 - Kathy Schroeder

As you can tell by the sparse postings, internet access is not widely available in the area where we are staying.  In fact, we’re finding hot water is a luxury not available to all.

The team is staying in Pavas, a community in San Jose. Local families have opened their homes to us.  We’re enjoying true cultural immersion as we witness the work of God in the families we’re living with.

We’ve spent mornings tackling work projects in the community. The first project was to clean out and prepare a garage for use as a new ministry to teach and employ women in the craft of paper making.  This will add to their current ministry by teaching women to sew, a ministry now seeing students becoming teachers.

Another project involved painting the iron fence and gate around the community center. With pavement a very uneven steep slope and lack of enough ladders, let’s just say some team members accomplished the task in ways OSHA would not have approved.

Afternoons are centered around planned events in the community. Team members went door-to-door inviting children to come to the community center for stories, games, and crafts centered around the story The Three Trees. The story weaves together Jesus’ birth, power, and crucifixion. We had far more children show up than we ever thought would–a true blessing.

The team has invited local women in to hear testimonies from team members and participate in crafts.  Each team member has a personal story to share of God’s faithfulness in their lives. It is obvious as our testimonies are shared that we are impacting lives…you can see it in the room full of women with tears running down their faces.   Adultry is a norm in the community, and the pain in their hearts runs deep.

Yesterday’s activity started with another testimony of God’s love making us whole, followed by a craft and spa treatments.  The women were pampered with hand massages, manicures, and shoulder massages. Many women brought their children, and two young boys were even brave enough to come to the hand massage station–one came back for a second massage, in fact!

God truly placed each of us on this team for a reason, and it’s apparent as we each bring our own unique talents forth each day.

We don’t know exactly how our work is impacting the people we are seving, but God knows exactly how the seeds we’re planting will grow.

- Kathy Schroeder

We were blessed with great travel and a pretty great day of conversations with those that we met, as we spent the day getting to our destination. We had a 3 hour layover in Dallas/Fort Worth, long enough to have a late lunch and a brisk walk in and around terminal D, along with some killer stair climbs…

We landed in San Jose around 8 pm and  checked in through immigration. A little man pulled me and my carry on aside for the suspect round globes, that he thought was fruit in my bag, only to discover they were baseballs! Ha Ha. We were warmly welcomed by Kathy Carlson and Carlos Mestayer as we exited the terminal. We were whisked off to a delicious late dinner at Rosti Pollo. We just arrived and have unloaded at the team training facility in San Fransisco. We are settling in as we have to be up bright and shiney for 8 am worship at Iglesia Nazareth.

Tomorrow afternoon is CFCI orientation and team training. We head out to Pavas at 4 pm, to meet our host families for the week. I am very excited, as I found out that Carlos and I will be staying with my same family that has hosted me for the previous 2 years…Rick, Casey and Gene can be jealous now.

We are so blessed to be able to come and serve CFCI and the familes, teens and children in Pavas and Lacarpio. We are looking forward to an awesome week of ministry!

In His Grace,

Don Griggs